Babylocks are typically more expensive than their identical Brother equivalents for some reason, but as far as I know, the ONLY difference will be the built in designs. The Brother version of this line includes some Disney designs, plus the ability to buy more online, so if you think you will want those, I'd go with the Brother. I have the Dreamweaver combo version of the Dreammaker and LOVE it so far (I've had it just a few weeks).

I have the 5D Pro as well, and I love the flexibility to design with it.

Hi SingerSewer
As Dogwood Quilter mentioned, Babylocks are made by Brother. I have a Brother embroidery machine, a Brother serger and a Brother sewing machine. They are the most user friendly machines I have ever used. I agree with Dogwood Quilter, that there will be very little difference if any between the Brother and Babylock machines.

Good luck and happy stitching.

Every design I go to run I first pull it up into the new Stitch Editor Plus and reduce the unneeded stitches, and run the jump stitch command. It really is so much easier and better than doing it in the organizer. Plus, if you do the jump stitch command in the organizer, you have to save it to another folder and then retrieve it from there. You skip that step in Stictch Editor Plus. Have you been to mrpatience.com yet. Its a tutorial site on 4 and 5D, alot of free videos and then they also offer classes on them as well. I have one of his books recommended by the Viking teacher. Lots of good info there.

Wow, decisions, decisions. Both the Baby Lock and Brother seem to be so wonderful. Now the big question is would I use one enough to justify spending that much money.

Do you use your embroidery machine enough to make it a good buy?

I thought the same thing. In fact talked myself out of an emb. Machine 9 yrs ago. Got my first one last year and haven't looked back. I don't have grandchildren so thought I wouldn't have much to emb. I found In-The-Hoop bags and have made and sold many. I also plan to emb the fabric for bigger bags.
i recommend that you buy your machine from someplace where you can get lessons. I take all the classes I can.

I have a Babylock and a Brother. The only difference is price. Babylock is much more expensive.
If you're not sure about it or don't want to spend a lot, I recommend the Brother PE-770. It is a workhorse.
I think that you will be surprised at how much you use it.

Another question?

What do you mostly use your embroidery for? Do you make quilts, etc?

I use mine for quilting, of course, but there are many ITH (in the hoop) projects you can make - potholders, needlebooks, coasters, eyeglass cases to name a few. I make a lot of FSL (free standing lace) - often sewn over organza for a little sparkle - angels as comfort gifts, bookmarks, Earrings, and I made favors for my son's wedding. I love, love, love DOW (Day of the Week) towels and buy appropriate fabric, cut it to size, serge the edges and stitch away. Embroidered pillows, totes, you name it. I make veils for a living and embroider designs directly onto the veils. A handmade scarf with a monogram is always a nice gift, too.
Should I go on? :)

Would you mind sharing what kind of stabilizer you use for the veils?
TIA,
Jane

Jane, I use two layers of wash away - one over, one under. You just have to be very careful that all of the stabilizer is rinsed out completely or it will fill the holes in the tulle and you'll never get it out. After rinsing I usually shake it to be sure there are no remaining droplets.

I just bought a cheapie Brother PE500. Haven't done much with it yet - had to get stabilizer, white fabric (although fabric shopping can't be called a chore LOL) and have started looking for great patterns to download. I specifically got the brother for Disney designs, and I knew they would be a little expensive, but all the other patterns I'm finding are expensive too - or really crappy. Any suggestions for where to get GOOD free downloads?

Krystna,
What type of fabric do you buy for the towels?
I've got some plain flour sack towels, but I think different colors would be great.

Bigred, go to www.cuteembroidery.com. There are several areas where you can download - under Designs by Cuties - and there are many, many pages of them - and then there are links under Community-Freebies where people post links to sites that offer free designs including alphabets and design sets to collect. Brother has a few on the U.S. site, but there are tons on the Brother.ru (Russia) site. No Disney ones, though as they are licensed. You will be lost on Cuties for days! Also www.sewforum.com has an area for many embroidery downloads. You might want to look around some of the sites that have subscriptions - designsbySick is about $15 for 6 months and there are many sets to download. Myembroiderygarden is another one. Have fun!

If I'm doing decorative ones for the holidays -- like gingers or something like that, I'll use homespun plaids and finish the ends with some eyelet lace or another finish. Otherwise if you are in Joann, take a look around the utility fabric section and you'll find plenty of options. You can use monkscloth and there are also some other toweling possibilities. You can even use the fabric they have for diapers. I had been using heavy muslin at first but after you wash them them are a wrinkly mess so unless it is for something that is purely decorative, never again! Wait until you have a good coupon and you'll be able to make them for very little. I've hunted around for wholesale towels, but they are still quite pricey. I saw some with the red striping down the sides the other day but didn't pick it up. Next time maybe.

Here's a set I made for a Secret Pal

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One of the Irish Recipe Towels we sold at an Irish Fair

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Those towels are beautiful!
The red & white ones are my favorite.
How do the homespun plaids look after washing?

Thanks. Gosh I have no idea. I sent them to Ladybug1938. Frankly, I can't imagine using them to actually dry anything because the stitching is so dense, but they are pretty! I got the lace trim and more in some other styles at a tag sale held at a tablecloth, napkin, etc. warehouse that was closing. Got many big spools for $5 each!

Uh oh! Sale and Freebie Alert! All sets at www.theappliquehut.com are $1 and they have tons of adorable crazy quilt blocks! And for those of you who are new to their site ... there are 107 freebies to download!

Thanks for the info. I love it that everyone shares sites that are having sales or freebies!

I am seriously addicted to downloading. I was going to abstain until I stitched out more, but ... well, that didn't happen!

These are great designs - so many choices.
A site that I have ordered from and am extremely happy with the designs and products is www.mollymine.com
The stitch outs are as close to perfect as anything I've seen.

I want to do an embroidered Minnie & Mickey mouse quilt.
When I go to quilt it, should I also quilt through the designs or go around them??
I'm going to do all over stippling on it.

Ms. Grace, I'd go around them. They're going to be very dense.

I agree. They are beautiful and she is the Queen of Crazy. Wish I could afford to buy them all!

Wow Krystyna great wealth of information on the embroidery freebies as well to others who provided more info. I'm bedridden right now so I have my lappy with me and will definitely check these sites out. If its free its me :)

Warning Quiltnut - you may never stop and you do have to get up and get well some time. Hope you're better soon.

I have tons of designs; most of them free or close to it. go to oregonpatchworks.com. They represent lots of embroidery companies, some great estabished ones like Hatched in Africa plus lots of others like MollyMine, which is great as well. Plus they have some up and coming ones. You'll get an email each day/week that lets you know which companies have what on sale. I've gotten some great ITH designs from Oma's.
Go to emlibrary.com and sign up and make sure you include your birthday and you'll get special discounts the month of your birthday. They have free designs each month, lots of projects and tutorials on everything along with great specials. They have specials right now thru May 27th. I went to google one night and typed in free embroidery designs and was up all night finding new ones. There are some out there that are expensive but alot more that are cheap or free. Julias Needles and JuJu are also great ones too.

Ive seen where some put the batting but not the backing fabric and do the design. This way the design is attached to the batting, giving it more support. Then just add the backing and quilt around the design. This is especially good to do if your machine has lots of jump stitches or the top thread also shows on the bottom when it shouldn't. My machine has thread positioning so it isn't a problem for me, it allows my designs to look the same on the top and bottom of my fabric. there are so many ways to do each thing, it's just a matter of finding out what works for you.

How can I get these ladybug designs. They are so cute. I love your towels.

Betty's Original Embroideries. It also came with chickens and free projects.

Colleen, you need to have a computer program for embroidery machines to open or import your designs into, to be able to make changes. Do you have anything like this or do you have Buzz Explore? Please pm me if you need to chat more about this

ok, I even got sucked in and paid for a 6 month membership...but - it seems nothing I downloaded will load to my data card. The Disney stuff I bought loaded like a dream! Any ideas? I chose ones that are 4x4 or less.

One of the best forums I used when I was learning about embroidery is: http://www.sewforum.com/
There is a lot of people with embroidery machines that share so much information.

Software question? I have the Designer's Gallery Studio Plus and it has been discontinued. I am interested in upgrading. What kind of software do you use to view your designs and convert formats when needed? Thank you

I use sew what pro and really like it a lot. I tried a couple of programs like embird, but for me, this program was def the easiest to use and does everything i need. Also, there is a yahoo group that the company moderates and they will help with ANY question... GREAT, IMO, customer service.

I know what you mean by it being addictive, I've only bought a handful of design sets. But, have 4 discs full of embroidery designs that I've gotten for free over time! hee hee

I"m addicted to the free downloads.. I tend to collect them.

I only purchase when I have a specific need for a design... rarely I can't find something free that works for my projects.. I do not hesitate to buy when I need to.. but FREE is always good.. LOL

Krystyna, you Amaze me on the wealth of your knowledge of all the many topics posted on the QB! Amazed and Grateful! I am learning a great deal from your comments! THANK YOU!!!!

Another good thing about Embroidery library is that they store your patterns you buy. I buy a lot from them also from oregonpatchworks but oregonpatchworks does not store them so if my computer gives out I would lose those patterns so I put them on drives to make sure I never lose them. They both have great specials.

oregonpatchworks is another great site and they have a lot of sales too. I have a lot of them from Embroidery library too and really am bad... LOL I am going to make a quilt with the ones embrodiery library have on sale this week with the peek a boos. I am going to use their heads and then make a quilt to make them look like they are in bed. I am still trying to figure out in my head how I am going to set them up most the patterns are 6 something inches by 4 something inches. I will draw it out then figure the size of the block when it is done and how many across and down to make a baby quilt. I got 15 patterns of just the heads they are on sale for a 1$ a pattern. I can't wait to get started. I have a Janome 10001 and I love it.